The Blackbird Sings

Imaginary Star Chart Number 2 | Togetherness

Thanks to those of you who contacted me on twitter, facebook, or here on the blog about the LUSH story yesterday. Such a huge response, and I have to say that roughly 90% of you are saying that you've also experienced the same LUSH sales tactics, often to the extent that you no longer want to shop there, with the remaining 10% saying that you've found their service ok. I really think that LUSH needs to address the issue of how they train and treat their staff (I've heard a few horror stories from ex-staff members).

Anyway, today I just wanted to share a couple of new pieces with you. They have both sold already (one was a commission), but there will be more Star Charts on the way for those of you who are waiting for them!

Imaginary Star Chart Number 2

Original gouache and acrylic ink painting on paper. 6x6"

© Natasha Newton 2011

Togetherness

Original gouache, ink pen and acrylic ink illustration on paper. 8x6"

© Natasha Newton 2011

I'm also having a small 'studio sale' in the shop at the moment with 25% off selected pieces: www.theblackbirdsings.etsy.com Enjoy!

Something new...

The previous blog post has had some great comments so far (it really helps to know that so many people have the same fears and worries) and while you're all still reading that, I just wanted to post this new piece. Those who follow me on twitter will probably have seen it already, but I thought it was worth posting on the blog as well. It's not available to buy as it is a special commission for someone, celebrating love over many years.

Through Many Seasons

Original gouache, ink pen, and acrylic ink illustration on paper. 9x7"

© Natasha Newton 2011

And guess what happened recently?

This...

(Screenshot from Typepad Dashboard)

The blog has reached more than 6000 followers! That's a ridiculously amazing number of people - huge thanks to every single one of you! x

Happy New Year! New Work and a New Gallery...

Happy 2011! I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year - I certainly did. It can be summed up in five F's: family, food, fire, films and frost. We had a really cold Christmas here in Suffolk, and even though we didn't have any more snow, it was a white Christmas anyway with frost that lasted all day for several days and even some icicles! I spent many a happy hour in front of the log fire playing Trivial Pursuit with Cris (my brother) and munching my way through an assortment of festive goodies.

It was great to be able to relax for a few days - after the busy year I've had it felt like such a luxury! But on Monday 27th December I returned to my artwork for a few days to prepare for a meeting with the Snape Maltings Gallery in Suffolk on the 30th. They contacted me several months ago after discovering my work online and wanted to know whether I would be interested in exhibiting with them. While I was in Paris in November we finally arranged a date to meet upon my return to Suffolk, so that I could show them a few examples of my work in person. To cut a long story short, it was a fantastic meeting and they were really excited by the artwork - they took all five pieces there and then, and they're also keen to have some larger paintings when I can supply them! I have very few available pieces at the moment (everything has either sold, or the few pieces I do have are at other galleries), so I'll try to get more work to them as soon as I can. In the meantime, here are the five pieces currently on display at the gallery - if you are interested in purchasing any of them, please visit their website for contact details.

I'm thrilled to be exhibiting there - alongside artists such as the great Maggi Hambling CBE - and I had actually been meaning to contact the gallery myself for a long time but just never got around to it. In the end they found me instead! :)

Watching The Rain

Acrylic on deep-edge canvas. 10x10"

© Natasha Newton 2010

The Bird and the Trees 5

Acrylic on deep-edge canvas. 6x6"

© Natasha Newton 2010

Butterfly 4

Original painting on paper. 7x5"

© Natasha Newton 2010

The Bird and the Trees 4

Original painting on paper. 6x4"

© Natasha Newton 2010

Imaginary Forest 1

Original ink illustration on paper. 7x5"

© Natasha Newton 2010

A Christmas Wish

I know that the remainder of today and Christmas Eve are going to be very busy for me, so I'd like to take this opportunity to wish all of my readers, followers, collectors and supporters a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous 2011.

© Natasha Newton 2010

Your support throughout the past year means so much to me, and I hope you'll join me on my creative journey in 2011. Here's to good friends and exciting times ahead! Huge thanks to you all. :) xo

New pieces, inspiration, and I'm heading home... :(

To be honest, I haven't blogged as much as I'd like to recently, especially since I've been in Paris. I have so much to share with you - so many new ideas and experiences, photos, new artwork, inspiration and news, but I always think, "I'll do it tomorrow", and then tomorrow comes around and I find I'm busy again and don't have the time.

I've come to the conclusion that (ironically) the more I have to share with you, the less I actually blog, because my life is then so busy that it really limits the time I have available to update the blog! You get the idea. Anyway, if I can't share everything, I'll just have to give you the edited highlights. A little here and there is better than nothing at all.

Entrance to Palais-Royal metro station. (Click to view larger)

© Natasha Newton 2010

1. I leave Paris tomorrow to return to the UK for Christmas. I want to stay here with Leon and I actually feel sick at the thought of leaving him tomorrow for who-knows-how-long (I will try to get back here as soon as I can, but it's not always easy to do so). This subject could have a whole blog of it's own, but we'll leave it at that for today. My five and a half weeks here have gone by so quickly and I've LOVED being with him and spending special afternoons in my favourite part of Paris (namely Le Marais).

2. Since I've been here there have been exciting developments in my art career. I have an appointment on 30th December with a gallery who want to start showing my work in Suffolk (I'll let you know how that goes) and I've also been approached by the owner of a new gallery in Buckinghamshire where I'll be exhibiting from February onwards.

As if this isn't exciting enough, the other day I was contacted by a great high-end gallery in Surrey who have apparently been keeping an eye on my work for a while. To cut a long story short, they want me to become one of their 'gallery artists'; exhibiting there on a permanent basis, where they will help to promote/publicise me and my work. The exceptionally exciting part is that they have asked whether they can have several large pieces of work to take to the Chelsea Art Fair in April 2011!! This is a wonderful opportunity for me (I still can't quite believe it) and so I'll be making a collection of large canvas paintings just for them in the New Year. I can't wait to get started; it will be a departure for me as I don't often work on a large scale and this actually pushes me to do so. I already have a ton of new ideas for these pieces which I've been discussing with Leon. I will share them with you in due course.

3. I've been to several art galleries in the Marais district of Paris over the past few days and I've discovered some new artists (well, new to me) whose ideas, approach, and philosophy have seriously influenced the way I'm viewing my own work. Expect to see some changes next year... ;)

4. And lastly for today, I have two new original pieces up for sale in the shop. You can find them here: www.theblackbirdsings.etsy.com

Imaginary Forest 2 (I found this frame in a gorgeous little shop in the Marais district!)

Original ink illustration on textured watercolour paper.

© Natasha Newton 2010

and...

Imaginary Forest 1

Original ink illustration on textured watercolour paper. 7x5"

© Natasha Newton 2010

See you when I'm back home in England! x